NALCS: 2018 Summer Split Week 2 Day 2

North American League of Legends Week 2 Day 2

Game 1

The first game of the League of Legends pitched FlyQuest against Optic. After a loss in day one the win-less FlyQuest look to get a win on the board. Doing so would potentially push them out of solo possession of last place and drawing with other teams. The champion select went as follows:

FLY vs OPT

Top: Darius vs Mundo

Jungle: Lucian vs Xin Zhao

Mid: Braum vs Talon

Bot: Taliyah vs Ezreal

Support: Shen vs Rakan

FlyQuest decided to adopt the triple swap gold funnelling strategy that other teams are doing. FLY’s jungler played braum mid, FLY’s mid laner played Taliyah bottom, and FLY’s bot laner played Lucian jungle. FLY would find success in this picking up first blood without giving up any return kills. The kill came in the bot lane. They would look to snowball their lead to other lanes, but a couple of misplays would bring bring OPT back in the game. OPT would ace FLY and take baron, but a very successful defend kept FLY in the game. FLY opt for a 50/50 elder dragon fight which led to taking baron and ending the game. FLY would finally get their first win. The highlights can be found below:

Game 2

The second game of the day pitched Cloud 9 vs 100 Thieves. The lack of stage experience is starting to show for Cloud 9’s rookies and they continue to struggle in the bot lane. Besides taking a hit to their fan base, their win loss record is also taking a hit. The champion select went as follows:

C9 vs 100T

Top: Fiora vs Aatrox

Jungle: Sejuani vs Xin Zhao

Mid: Yasuo vs Vladimir

Bot: Xayah vs Kai’sa

Support: Rakan vs Braum

A good start for C9 lands top laner Licorice first blood with a solo kill. Kills will be traded back and forth, but C9 would come up a little bit on top each fight. Each small lead would generate to a bigger and bigger fight. C9 would plummet losing one fight and baron nashor. This would escalate into a baron push where 100T would flat out win the game. This is the second game C9 has been ahead, but ended up losing. Speculation for this would be that they don’t have an experience shot caller on the team. The highlights can be found below:

Game 3

The third game pitched Team Liquid against Team Solo Mid. Team Solo Mid having trouble finding their footing in day one and haven’t been able to return to the dominance we are used to seeing from them. On the opposite side of the rift, Team Liquid are showing the dominance that we have seen from them in spring. The champion select went as follows:

TL vs TSM

Top: Renekton vs Aatrox

Jungle: Sejuani vs Olaf

Mid: Irelia vs Lulu

Bot: Kai’sa vs Ezreal

Support: Morgana vs Rakan

First blood came quickly for Team Liquids bot lane. TL’s support Olleh was on fire with his Morgana pick getting binding after binding. The duo would get two solo kills throughout laning phase. A dragon steal from TL’s jungler Xmithie would begin the start of an immaculate showing from TL. They would keep dragon control, take baron nashor, and stomp fights repeatedly. TL would take down TSM with a score of 9-2 in kills and leave TSM going 0-2 this week. The highlights can be found below:

Game 4

The fourth game of the day pitched Clutch Gaming against Counter Logic Gaming. As the standings start to thin out near the top and bottom of the rankings the middle becomes more jam packed with teams. A win for Clutch Gaming would shake things up. The champion select went as follows:

CG vs CLG

Top: Dr. Mundo vs Aatrox

Jungle: Trundle vs Olaf

Mid: Swain vs Aurelion Sol

Bot: Lucian vs Kai’Sa

Support: Thresh vs Tahm Kench

An invade kill gave CLG and easy first blood kill and delaying the start to CG’s jungler Lira. CLG would pick up two infernal dragons before winning a baron fight and slaying nashor. CLG would look to end the game in the faces of CG while trying to backdoor with two members. They would be unsuccessful in ending the game, but would get a nexus turret. CLG get a pick and grab the elder dragon. This would be enough for them to steamroll into CG’s base and find their win. The highlights can be found below:

Game 5

The final game of the day pitched Echo Fox against Golden Guardians. Although its still early in the season its quite possible that these two teams will finish very high in the standings based on how they have been playing up to this point. Both teams have pulled some crazy shenanigans, but have opted to play standard lanes against each other. The champion select went as follows:

FOX vs GGS

Top: Yasuo vs Camille

Jungle: Graves vs Xin Zhao

Mid: Galio vs Swain

Bot: Vladimir vs Kai’Sa

Support: Braum vs Rakan

First blood came in at level 3 with a jungle fight between the two junglers. Neither jungle was able to kill each other 1vs1 so top laners stepped in to get trade kills. GGS would come out on top getting two kills for one. FOX clawed their way back into this game and breezed through the late game. The obliterate the base of GGS and take the nexus. The highlights can be found below: